SONICS: Owens adds versatility to Seattle's backcourt

* Billy Owens, expected to start at off-guard for the Sonics, is a solid rebounder with excellent ballhandling skills.

SEATTLE - The first week he arrived in Sacramento, Billy Owens already was making enemies. He was just too aggressive a rebounder.

"He came in and got 18 rebounds, and I was 'Oh my goodness,' " said 7-foot Olden Polynice, Owens' former Kings teammate who now is reunited with the 6-foot-9 swingman here. "We kept fighting for rebounds. He held the season high, and I was, 'OK, that's very nice, but guess what? I'll beat you.' I got 20 rebounds.

"Knowing he was going to be doing that," Polynice said, "made me play that much harder."

Those kinds of instances make the SuperSonics' front office certain they landed the right free agent in Owens, a seven-year veteran out of Syracuse. Seattle struggled with rebounding, finishing last in the NBA in that category last season.

"He's a great fit for this team because of his versatility," said coach Paul Westphal. "We've needed help with rebounding and ball handling, and his fits both those areas."

Owens is expected to start his first game for Seattle at shooting guard tonight in the season opener at KeyArena. That would mean Hersey Hawkins, who owns the longest current streak of games started at 461, would lose that distinction.

Michael Jordan was next at 263, but with his retirement, Seattle's Gary Payton, a fixture in the Sonics' starting lineup, is the next active leader at 183 straight.

"I can deal with it," Hawkins said. "Three or four years ago I probably wouldn't have been able to deal with it because I probably was more selfish. But I don't place myself more important than the team."

It's that kind of unselfishness that Westphal has emphasized in an abbreviated training camp and has been pleased to find on this year's Sonics. Even the playful rebounding spat between Polynice and Owens is solved.

"Sometimes we would fight for the ball and the ball would go out of bounds off both of us," Owens said with a chuckle. "I learned to let him have it. I wasn't going to fight him for it."

Polynice was more dogged and less diplomatic.

"I don't think he'll get as many as I do. I already told him that," Polynice said. "He knows not to mess with me on the boards. But I'll let him get one now and then."

Owens is valuable to the Sonics for more than rebounding and inside scoring. He can take his game to the perimeter and has standout ball-handing skills for a player his size. Those skills and versatility remind assistant coach Nate McMillan of, well, himself.

"We're hoping he can do similar things to what I did," said McMillan, who played all 12 of his pro seasons here. "We want matchup problems like we did when I came in at the small forward spot. All of a sudden I'm defending a (point guard), or a small forward is defending me at the point. That will be to our advantage."

Owens said he began emphasizing his ball handling, particularly with his left hand, not to be a useful NBA player, but to keep a pesky childhood friend, Mike Hodge, from stealing the ball on Carlisle, Pa., blacktops.

"He would steal the ball from me, and my dad would give me a look," Owens said. "He would have me working on my ball handling. Mike used to come behind me and steal it or make me dribble off my foot. I got tired of it."

And did Hodge go on to NBA stardom?

"No, he's got a regular 9-to-5 job," Owens said. "When I go home I hardly see him because he's always working so hard."

Owens, on the other hand, is living his dream. But he had been labeled as not working hard when he played on subpar teams like Golden State and Sacramento.

"People say what they want to say about how hard you play on the court," Owens said. "Who's to judge if I'm playing hard, if Olden is playing hard. I think (the misconception) comes from being on bad teams, having a bad attitude on a bad team. People see you're pouting a lot. They see that, but it's hard to (be) losing every night."

That should all change for Owens, who is back on an NBA title contender.

"There has been a knock on him about his work habits, but I spent two years with the guy," Polynice said. "I mean, he works as hard as anybody. It helps being on a team like this. People are going to see the real Billy Owens."

Just as long as that means not stealing rebounds away from him.

TODAY

Dallas at Seattle, KeyArena,

7 p.m.

KJR 950-AM radio; KTZZ

Ch. 22/10 TV

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